Apparatus and method for scheduling packet in communication system

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a sensor network, machine type communication (MTC), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and technology for internet of things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the above technologies, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. A method for scheduling a packet in a communication node in a communication system is provided. The method includes detecting a parameter value of a parameter related to a delay characteristic that is related to at least one packet; comparing the detected parameter value and a preset threshold parameter value; determining a priority for the at least one packet based on the compared result; and transmitting the at least one packet corresponding to the determined priority.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is related to and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Korean patent application filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Sep. 24, 2015 assigned Serial No.10-2015-0135773, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for schedulinga packet in a communication system, and more particularly, to anapparatus and method for scheduling a packet by considering a delaycharacteristic in a communication system.

BACKGROUND

The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network wherehumans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the internetof things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange andprocess information without human intervention. The internet ofeverything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and thebig data processing technology through connection with a cloud server,has emerged.

As technology elements, such as “sensing technology”, “wired/wirelesscommunication and network infrastructure”, “service interfacetechnology”, and “security technology” have been demanded for IoTimplementation, a sensor network, a machine-to-machine (M2M)communication, machine type communication (MTC), and so forth have beenrecently researched.

Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technologyservices that create a new value to human life by collecting andanalyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to avariety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city,smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliancesand advanced medical services through convergence and combinationbetween existing information technology (IT) and various industrialapplications.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

To address the above-discussed deficiencies, it is a primary object toprovide, for use in an apparatus and method for scheduling a packet in acommunication system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to propose an apparatus andmethod for scheduling a packet by considering a delay characteristic ina communication system. Another aspect of the present disclosure is topropose an apparatus and method for scheduling a packet by considering adelay characteristic thereby enabling to decrease computing overhead ina communication system. Another aspect of the present disclosure is topropose an apparatus and method for scheduling a packet by considering adelay characteristic thereby enabling to decrease delay in acommunication system. Another aspect of the present disclosure is topropose an apparatus and method for scheduling a packet by considering adelay characteristic thereby enabling to enhance QoE in a communicationsystem.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method forscheduling a packet in a communication node in a communication system isprovided. The method includes detecting a parameter value of a parameterrelated to a delay characteristic which is related to at least onepacket; comparing the detected parameter value and a preset thresholdparameter value; determining a priority for the at least one packetbased on the compared result; and transmitting the at least one packetcorresponding to the determined priority.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor scheduling a packet in a communication node in a communicationsystem is provided. The method includes detecting a parameter value of aparameter related to a delay characteristic for a packet; comparing thedetected parameter value and a preset threshold parameter value;determining a priority for the packet based on the compared result; andtransmitting the packet corresponding to the determined priority.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, acommunication node in a communication system is provided. Thecommunication node includes a controller configured to perform anoperation of detecting a parameter value of a parameter related to adelay characteristic which is related to at least one packet, anoperation of comparing the detected parameter value and a presetthreshold parameter value, and an operation of determining a priorityfor the at least one packet based on the compared result; and atransmitter configured to transmit the at least one packet correspondingto the determined priority.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, acommunication node in a communication system is provided. Thecommunication node includes a controller configured to perform anoperation of detecting a parameter value of a parameter related to adelay characteristic for a packet, an operation of comparing thedetected parameter value and a preset threshold parameter value, and anoperation of determining a priority for the packet based on the comparedresult; and a transmitter configured to transmit the packetcorresponding to the determined priority.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” aswell as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term“or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and“associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean toinclude, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be containedwithin, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with,cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to orwith, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller”means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least oneoperation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware orsoftware, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should benoted that the functionality associated with any particular controllermay be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout thispatent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understandthat in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, aswell as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of an inner structure of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another example of an operating processof a communication node in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of QOR distribution ofapplications in a communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mobile messengerin a communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mobile game in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mVoIP in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates another example of an inner structureof a communication node in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 8, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged electronic device or communicationsystem. The following description with reference to the accompanyingdrawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding ofvarious embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claimsand their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist inthat understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functionsand constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

Although ordinal numbers such as “first,” “second,” and so forth will beused to describe various components, those components are not limitedherein. The terms are used only for distinguishing one component fromanother component. For example, a first component may be referred to asa second component and likewise, a second component may also be referredto as a first component, without departing from the teaching of theinventive concept. The term “and/or” used herein includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing variousembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understoodthat the terms “comprises” and/or “has,” when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of a stated feature, number, step,operation, component, element, or combination thereof, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,numbers, steps, operations, components, elements, or combinationsthereof.

The terms used herein, including technical and scientific terms, havethe same meanings as terms that are generally understood by thoseskilled in the art, as long as the terms are not differently defined. Itshould be understood that terms defined in a generally-used dictionaryhave meanings coinciding with those of terms in the related technology.

In a communication system, packet scheduling is an important issue forenhancing performance of the communication system, so various schemesfor scheduling a packet have been proposed in the communication system.Typical schemes among the various schemes for scheduling the packetinclude a priority based-packet scheduling scheme and a fairnessbased-packet scheduling scheme.

Firstly, the priority based-packet scheduling scheme will be described.The priority based-packet scheduling scheme is proposed for enhancingdownload performance in an environment that there are download trafficand upload traffic at the same time and a download bandwidth isdifferent from a uplink bandwidth.

Generally, delay for download packets, such as a transmission controlprotocol (TCP) acknowledgement (ACK) packet, and the like due to uploadpackets stored at a uplink queue may be worsened due to a uplinkbandwidth which is relatively narrow than a downlink bandwidth. So, thepriority based-packet scheduling scheme proposes a transmission queuearchitecture including a plurality of transmission queues whichindependently manages a queue which stores download packets and a queuewhich stores upload packets in order to solve delay for the downloadpackets, and may enhance download performance by setting a schedulingpriority higher than a scheduling priority for a queue which storesupload packets for a queue which stores download packets. That is, thepriority based-packet scheduling scheme enhances download performance byscheduling download packets before upload packets, such as by setting apriority higher than a priority for the upload packets for the downloadpackets.

However, if there are a plurality of upload flows in a currentcommunication system environment that delay-sensitive traffic, such asinteractive traffic is significantly increased, such as a communicationsystem environment that delay-sensitive traffic such as a mobilemessenger, a mobile game, and the like is significantly increased,packets transmitted in the upload flows are processed after downloadpackets due to the priority based-packet scheduling scheme even thoughthe packets transmitted in the upload flows are delay-sensitive traffic.

So, if the priority based-packet scheduling scheme used, delay for thedelay-sensitive traffic may occur. So, quality of experience (QoE) of auser may be significantly decreased due to the delay for thedelay-sensitive traffic.

Secondly, the fairness based-packet scheduling scheme will be describedbelow. The fairness based-packet scheduling scheme relatively fairlyallocates a resource to each of a plurality of flows in an environmentthat there are the plurality of flows. For example, the fairnessbased-packet scheduling scheme may equally allocate a resource to eachof the plurality of flows, or may allocate a resource to each of theplurality of flows based on a weight which is allocated to each of theplurality of flows. So, the fairness based-packet scheduling scheme mayenhance QoE of a user by relatively fairly allocating a resource to eachof a plurality of flows. However, as described above, if the fairnessbased-packet scheduling scheme is used in an environment that theplurality of flows occur, computing overhead may occur.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may include communication functionality. For example,an electronic device may be a smart phone, a tablet personal computer(PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-book reader, a desktop PC, alaptop PC, a netbook PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portablemultimedia player (PMP), an mp3 player, a mobile medical device, acamera, a wearable device (such as a head-mounted device (HMD),electronic clothes, electronic braces, an electronic necklace, anelectronic appcessory, an electronic tattoo, or a smart watch), and/orthe like.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may be a smart home appliance with communicationfunctionality. A smart home appliance may be, for example, a television,a digital video disk (DVD) player, an audio, a refrigerator, an airconditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, a microwave oven, a washer, adryer, an air purifier, a set-top box, a TV box (such as SAMSUNGHOMESYNC™, APPLE TV™, or GOOGLE TV™, a gaming console, an electronicdictionary, an electronic key, a camcorder, an electronic picture frame,and/or the like.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may be a medical device (such as magnetic resonanceangiography (MRA) device, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device,computed tomography (CT) device, an imaging device, or an ultrasonicdevice), a navigation device, a global positioning system (GPS)receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder (FDR), anautomotive infotainment device, a naval electronic device (such as navalnavigation device, gyroscope, or compass), an avionic electronic device,a security device, an industrial or consumer robot, and/or the like.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, anelectronic device may be furniture, part of a building/structure, anelectronic board, electronic signature receiving device, a projector,various measuring devices (such as water, electricity, gas orelectro-magnetic wave measuring devices), and/or the like that includecommunication functionality. According to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure, an electronic device may be any combination of theforegoing devices. In addition, it will be apparent to one havingordinary skill in the art that an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to the foregoingdevices.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, for example,a communication node may be an electronic device. An embodiment of thepresent disclosure proposes an apparatus and method for scheduling apacket in a communication system. An embodiment of the presentdisclosure proposes an apparatus and method for scheduling a packet byconsidering a delay characteristic in a communication system. Anembodiment of the present disclosure proposes an apparatus and methodfor scheduling a packet by considering a delay characteristic therebyenabling to decrease computing overhead in a communication system.

An embodiment of the present disclosure proposes an apparatus and methodfor scheduling a packet by considering a delay characteristic therebyenabling to decrease delay in a communication system. An embodiment ofthe present disclosure proposes an apparatus and method for scheduling apacket by considering a delay characteristic thereby enabling to enhancequality of experience (QoE) in a communication system.

A method and apparatus proposed in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be applied to various communication systems such as along term evolution (LTE) mobile communication system, an LTE-advanced(LTE-A) mobile communication system, a licensed-assisted access(LAA)-LTE mobile communication system, a high speed downlink packetaccess (HSDPA) mobile communication system, a high speed uplink packetaccess (HSDPA) mobile communication system, a high rate packet data(HRPD) mobile communication system proposed in a 3rd generation projectpartnership 2 (3GPP2), a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA)mobile communication system proposed in the 3GPP2, a code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) mobile communication system proposed in the3GPP2, an institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE)802.16m communication system, an IEEE 802.16e communication system, anevolved packet system (EPS), and a mobile internet protocol (Mobile IP)system and/or the like. An example of an inner structure of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of an inner structure of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, a communication node 100includes a plurality of transmission buffers, such as N transmissionbuffers, such as a transmission buffer #1 111-1, a transmission buffer#2 111-2, . . . , a transmission buffer #N 111-N, a packet scheduler113, a plurality of transmission queues, such as two transmissionqueues, such as a transmission queue #1 115-1 and a transmission queue#2 115-2, and a link scheduler 117. Each of the transmission buffer #1111-1, the transmission buffer #2 111-2, . . . , the transmission buffer#N 111-N is mapped to a related application, and stores packets whichoccurs according to running of the related application.

The packet scheduler 113 performs a scheduling operation on packetswhich are stored at each of the transmission buffer #1 111-1, thetransmission buffer #2 111-2, . . . , the transmission buffer #N 111-Nbased on preset at least one parameter. The scheduling operation whichthe packet scheduler 113 performs based on the at least one parameter,such as a delay characteristic will be described below, so a detaileddescription will be omitted herein.

The packet scheduler 113 outputs packets of which a priority is higherthan or equal to a preset threshold priority to the transmission queue#1 115-1, and packets of which a priority is lower than the thresholdpriority to the transmission queue #2 115-2 based on the schedulingoperation result. The threshold priority will be described below, and adetailed description will be omitted herein. Only the packets of whichthe priority is higher than or equal to the threshold priority arestored at the transmission queue #1 115-1, and transmitted to othercommunication node through a communication link under a control of thelink scheduler 117.

Only the packets of which the priority is lower than the thresholdpriority are stored at the transmission queue #2 115-2, and transmittedto other communication node through the communication link under acontrol of the link scheduler 117. A detailed description of ascheduling scheme of the link scheduler 117 will be omitted. While thetransmission buffer #1 111-1, the transmission buffer #2 111-2, . . . ,the transmission buffer #N 111-N, the packet scheduler 113, thetransmission queue #1 115-1 and the transmission queue #2 115-2, and thelink scheduler 117 are described in the communication node 100 asseparate units, it is to be understood that this is merely forconvenience of description. In other words, two or more of thetransmission buffer #1 111-1, the transmission buffer #2 111-2, . . . ,the transmission buffer #N 111-N, the packet scheduler 113, thetransmission queue #1 115-1 and the transmission queue #2 115-2, and thelink scheduler 117 may be incorporated into a single unit. Thecommunication node 100 may be implemented with one processor.

An example of an inner structure of a communication node in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been described with reference to FIG. 1, and an exampleof an operating process of a communication node in a communicationsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of thepresent disclosure targets scheduling of packets based on a delaycharacteristic. For example, an embodiment of the present disclosuretargets enhancement of performance for delay-sensitive traffic. So, asdescribed in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes apacket scheduling scheme which is based on a transmission queuearchitecture including a plurality of transmission queues, such as amulti-transmission queue architecture.

For example, it will be assumed that a communication node, such as asmart phone runs an application on which delay-sensitive traffic occurssuch as an application on which interactive traffic occurs, such as amobile messenger, a mobile game, and the like and an application onwhich the delay-sensitive traffic does not occur such as an applicationon which delay-insensitive traffic occurs, such as a cloud storageservice, and the like, at the same time. For convenience, an applicationon which delay-sensitive traffic occurs will be referred to as adelay-sensitive application, and an application on which delay-sensitivetraffic does not occur, such as an application on whichdelay-insensitive traffic occurs will be referred to as adelay-insensitive application.

Like this, in a case that a delay-sensitive application and adelay-insensitive application are run at the same time, an embodiment ofthe present disclosure proposes a scheme of enhancing QoE of a user of acommunication node by performing a scheduling operation therebytransmitting a packet which occurs in a delay-sensitive applicationbefore a packet which occurs in a delay-insensitive application.

So, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a schedulingoperation of scheduling packets based on a queue occupancy ratio (QOR)thereby packets are scheduled by considering a delay characteristic. Apacket scheduler included in a related communication node detects a QORof each of transmission buffers included in the related communicationnode, and performs a scheduling operation based on the detected QORs.The QOR denotes a ratio by which packets which occurs on a relatedapplication occupies a transmission buffer which is mapped to therelated application, and may be expressed as Equation (1).

$\begin{matrix}{{{QQR}_{s}(t)} = \frac{Q_{s}(t)}{{sndbuf}(t)}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu}(1)}\end{matrix}$

In Equation (1), s denotes an index indicating an application, Qs(t)denotes data amount of packets which are stored at a transmission bufferwhich is mapped to the application s, and sndbuf(t) denotes a size of atransmission buffer at time t.

As expressed in Equation (1), a QOR for a related application denotes aratio of capacity of a transmission buffer which is mapped to therelated application to data amount of packets which occur according torunning of the related application and are stored at the transmissionbuffer. So, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the QOR isless than or equal to a preset threshold QOR QORth, a relatedapplication is determined as an delay-sensitive application, and if theQOR is greater than the QORth, a related application is determined adelay-insensitive application. The threshold QOR may be adaptivelydetermined corresponding to a situation of the communication system.

Referring back to FIG. 2, a communication node detects that a new packetoccurs on an application at operation 211. The communication nodecalculates a QOR of a transmission buffer which is mapped to theapplication on which the new packet occurs at operation 213. Thecommunication node determines whether the calculated QOR is less than orequal to a threshold QOR QORth at operation 215. The threshold QOR isrelated to a threshold priority, and a priority of an application whichis mapped to a transmission buffer which has a QOR which is less than orequal to the threshold QOR is higher than or equal to the thresholdpriority. Further, a priority of an application which is mapped to atransmission buffer which has a QOR which is greater than the thresholdQOR is lower than the threshold priority. The threshold QOR will bedescribed below, and a detailed description of the threshold QOR will beomitted herein.

If the calculated QOR is less than or equal to the threshold QOR, thecommunication node stores the new packet at a transmission queue atwhich packets of which a priority is higher than or equal to a thresholdpriority are stored, such as a high priority transmission queue atoperation 217. If the calculated QOR is not less than or equal to thethreshold QOR, that is, if the calculated QOR is greater than thethreshold QOR, the communication node stores the new packet at atransmission queue at which packets of which a priority is lower thanthe threshold priority are stored, such as a low priority transmissionqueue at operation 219.

A scheduling operation in a case that a communication node includes twotransmission queues has been described in FIG. 2, however, thecommunication node may include transmission queues of which the numberis equal to the number of priorities which the communication node wantsto operate. That is, if the communication node wants to operate Npriorities, the communication node may include N transmission queues.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure, various changes could be made to FIG. 2. Forexample, although shown as a series of operations, various operations inFIG. 2 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, oroccur multiple times.

An example of an operating process of a communication node in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure has been described with reference to FIG. 2, and anotherexample of an operating process of a communication node in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates another example of an operating processof a communication node in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, acommunication node determines whether a related timing point is ascheduling timing point at operation 311. If the related timing point isthe scheduling timing point, the communication node calculates a QOR ofeach of transmission buffers included in the communication node atoperation 313. The communication node orders the calculated QORs in anorder of small size at operation 315. The reason why the QORs areordered in the order of small size is that the smaller a QOR is, thehigher a probability that a related application becomes adelay-sensitive application is. The communication node performs thefollowing operation on all transmission buffers from a transmissionbuffer which has the largest QOR in order.

The communication node determines whether a related transmission bufferis the last buffer among transmission buffers included in thecommunication node at operation 317. If the related transmission bufferis not the last buffer, the communication node determines whether a QORof the related transmission buffer is less than or equal to a thresholdQOR QORth at operation 319. If the QOR of the related transmissionbuffer is less than or equal to the threshold QOR, the communicationnode stores packets which are stored at the related transmission bufferat a transmission queue at which packets of which a priority is higherthan or equal to a threshold priority are stored, such as a highpriority queue at operation 321.

If the QOR of the related transmission buffer is not less than or equalto the threshold QOR, that is, if the QOR of the related transmissionbuffer is greater than the threshold QOR, the communication node storespackets which are stored at the related transmission buffer at atransmission queue at which packets of which a priority is less than thethreshold priority are stored, such as a low priority queue at operation323.

If the related transmission buffer is the last buffer, the communicationnode determines whether a QOR of the related transmission buffer is lessthan or equal to the threshold QOR at operation 325. If the QOR of therelated transmission buffer is less than or equal to the threshold QOR,the communication node stores packets which are stored at the relatedtransmission buffer at the high priority transmission queue at operation327.

If the QOR of the related transmission buffer is not less than or equalto the threshold QOR, that is, if the QOR of the related transmissionbuffer is greater than the threshold QOR, the communication node storespackets which are stored at the related transmission buffer at a lowpriority transmission queue at operation 329. Comparing an operatingprocess of a communication node in a communication system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure in FIG. 3 and an operatingprocess of a communication node in a communication system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure in FIG. 2, it will be understoodthat scheduling timing points for packets stored at a transmissionbuffer are different. That is, in an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure in FIG. 2, a scheduling operation is performedwhenever a new packet occurs. However, in an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure in FIG. 3, a scheduling operation is performedwhenever it reaches a scheduling timing point.

In FIG. 3, a scheduling operation in a case that a communication nodeincludes two transmission queues has been described, however, thecommunication node may include transmission queues of which the numberis equal to the number of priorities which the communication node wantsto operate. That is, if the communication node wants to operate Npriorities, the communication node may include N transmission queues.

Although FIG. 3 illustrates another example of an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure, various changes could be made to FIG. 3. Forexample, although shown as a series of operations, various operations inFIG. 3 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, oroccur multiple times. Another example of an operating process of acommunication node in a communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure has been described with reference to FIG. 3,and an example of QOR distribution of applications in a communicationsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of QOR distribution ofapplications in a communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, for example, QOR distributionof applications in FIG. 4 indicates QOR distribution of each of a mobilemessenger in which a text is transmitted, a mobile messenger in which apicture is transmitted, a cloud storage service, a social networkservice (SNS) in which a picture is transmitted, and an SNS in which avideo is transmitted. For example, it will be assumed that the cloudstorage service is DROPBOX©, and the SNS is FACEBOOK©. The cloud storageservice and the SNS are file transfer applications. In FIG. 4, it willbe noted that a ratio of queue length to transmission buffer, such as aQOR of the mobile messenger in which the text is transmitted isillustrated as “Mobile messenger (text)”, a QOR of the mobile messengerin which the picture is transmitted is illustrated as “Mobile messenger(picture)”, a QOR is of DROPBOX© is illustrated as “Dropbox”, a QOR isof FACEBOOK© in which the picture is transmitted is illustrated as“Facebook(picture)”, and a QOR is of FACEBOOK© in which the video istransmitted is illustrated as “Facebook(video)”.

In FIG. 4, a vertical axis indicates a cumulative distribution function,and a horizontal axis indicates a ratio of queue length to transmissionbuffer, such as a QOR.

As described in FIG. 4, it may be understood that a percentage for acase that it is greater than 50% of capacity of transmission bufferswhich are mapped to the file transfer applications is greater than orequal to 80% in file transfer applications such as a cloud storageservice and an SNS unlike a mobile messenger. Specially, it may beunderstood that a related file transfer application always stores apacket at a transmission buffer until file transfer is completed.

So, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a scheduling schemewhich is based on a QOR. That is, the scheduling scheme may provide aservice which is differentiated based on a delay characteristic of eachof applications by storing a packet of a related transmission buffer ata transmission queue at which packets with a high priority are stored ifa QOR of a transmission buffer which is mapped to a related applicationis less than or equal to a threshold QOR, and storing a packet of arelated transmission buffer at a transmission queue at which packetswith a low priority are stored if the QOR of the transmission bufferwhich is mapped to the related application is greater than the thresholdQOR.

An example of QOR distribution of applications in a communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been describedwith reference to FIG. 4, and delay performance of a mobile messenger ina communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mobile messengerin a communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, packets are scheduled based on a QOR of each application, apacket which occurs in a delay-sensitive application, such as anapplication which targets real time packet transmission and receptionsuch as a mobile messenger is scheduled prior to a packet which occursin a delay-insensitive application, such as an application which targetsfile transfer such as a cloud storage service, so QoE of a user may beenhanced.

So, it will be assumed that delay performance of each of a plurality ofapplications is measured while upload traffic is generated using iperfin an LTE communication system in order to check performance enhancementaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated inFIG. 5. Here, delay performance of each of a plurality of applicationsaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is compared todelay performance in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used, and a compared result is illustrated in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, it will be noted that delay performance of a mobile messengeris delay performance in a case that KAKAO TALK© is used as the mobilemessenger. In FIG. 5, the delay performance in the case that KAKAO TALK©is used as the mobile messenger is described, however, it will be notedthat delay performance in a case that other mobile messenger is used isalmost similar to the delay performance in the case that KAKAO TALK© isused. That is, KAKAO TALK© is just an example for describing delayperformance of a mobile messenger in a communication system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, it will be noted thatenhancement for delay performance of a mobile messenger in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure is not limited to KAKAO TALK©.

In FIG. 5, it will be noted that round trip time (RTT) of a mobilemessenger in a case that a multi-transmission queue architecture is usedand a upload bandwidth is 13.1 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dualw/upload(13.1 Mbps)”, RTT of a mobile messenger in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidth is17.7 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dual w/upload(17.7 Mbps)”, RTT of a mobilemessenger in a case that a single-transmission queue architecture isused and a upload bandwidth is 11.0 Mpbs is illustrated as “Singlew/upload(11.0 Mbps)”, and RTT of a mobile messenger in a case that asingle-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidth is17.4 Mpbs is illustrated as “Single w/upload(17.4 Mbps)”.

In FIG. 5, a vertical axis indicates a cumulative distribution function,and a horizontal axis indicates RTT. As illustrated in FIG. 5, it may beunderstood that delay performance of a mobile messenger in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture which is based on a QOR accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure is used is better than delayperformance of a mobile messenger in a case that a single-transmissionqueue architecture is used. In FIG. 5, it may be understood that thenarrower an uplink bandwidth is, the greater difference is. Here, thedifference is difference between delay performance of a mobile messengerin a case that a multi-transmission queue architecture which is based ona QOR according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is used anddelay performance of a mobile messenger in a case that asingle-transmission queue architecture is used. Delay performance of amobile messenger in a communication system according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure has been described with reference to FIG. 5, anddelay performance of a mobile game in a communication system accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described withreference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mobile game in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of the present disclosuremay enhance QoE of a user by scheduling packets based on a QOR of eachapplication. So, it will be assumed that delay performance of each of aplurality of applications is measured while upload traffic is generatedusing iperf in an LTE communication system in order to check performanceenhancement according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, asillustrated in FIG. 6. Here, delay performance of each of a plurality ofapplications according to an embodiment of the present disclosure iscompared to delay performance in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used, and a compared result is illustrated in FIG. 6.

In FIG. 6, it will be noted that delay performance of a mobile game isdelay performance in a case that MODOO MARBL© is used as the mobilegame. In FIG. 6, the delay performance in the case that MODOO MARBLE© isused as the mobile game is described, however, it will be noted thatdelay performance in a case that other mobile game is used is almostsimilar to the delay performance in the case that MODOO MARBLE© is used.That is, MODOO MARBLE© is just an example for describing delayperformance of a mobile game in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, it will be noted that enhancementfor delay performance of a mobile game in a communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited toMODOO MARBLE©.

In FIG. 6, it will be noted that RTT of a mobile game in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidth is11.4 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dual w/upload(11.4 Mbps)”, RTT of a mobilegame in a case that a multi-transmission queue architecture is used anda upload bandwidth is 17.7 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dual w/upload(17.7Mbps)”, RTT of a mobile game in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used and a upload bandwidth is 12.4 Mpbs is illustratedas “Single w/upload(12.4 Mbps)”, and RTT of a mobile game in a case thata single-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidthis 18.0 Mpbs is illustrated as “Single w/upload(18.0 Mbps)”.

In FIG. 6, a vertical axis indicates a cumulative distribution function,and a horizontal axis indicates RTT. As illustrated in FIG. 6, it may beunderstood that delay performance of a mobile game in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture which is based on a QOR accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure is used is better than delayperformance of a mobile game in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used. In FIG. 6, it may be understood that the narrowera uplink bandwidth is, the greater difference is. Here, the differenceis a difference between delay performance of a mobile game in a casethat a multi-transmission queue architecture which is based on a QORaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is used and delayperformance of a mobile game in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used.

Delay performance of a mobile game in a communication system accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described withreference to FIG. 6, and delay performance of a mobile voice overinternet protocol (mVoIP) in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference toFIG. 7.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates delay performance of a mVoIP in acommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present disclosuremay enhance QoE of a user by scheduling packets based on a QOR of eachapplication.

So, it will be assumed that delay performance of each of a plurality ofapplications is measured while upload traffic is generated using iperfin an LTE communication system in order to check performance enhancementaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated inFIG. 7. Here, delay performance of each of a plurality of applicationsaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is compared todelay performance in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used, and a compared result is illustrated in FIG. 7.

In FIG. 7, it will be noted that delay performance of a mVoIP is delayperformance in a case that SKYPE© is used as the mVoIP. In FIG. 7, thedelay performance in the case that SKYPE© is used as the mVoIP isdescribed, however, it will be noted that delay performance in a casethat other mVoIP is used is almost similar to the delay performance inthe case that SKYPE© is used. That is, SKYPE© is just an example fordescribing delay performance of a mVoIP in a communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it will be notedthat enhancement for delay performance of a mVoIP in a communicationsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is notlimited to SKYPE©.

In FIG. 7, it will be noted that RTT of a mVoIP in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidth is11.4 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dual w/upload(11.4 Mbps)”, RTT of a mVoIPin a case that a multi-transmission queue architecture is used and anupload bandwidth is 17.3 Mpbs is illustrated as “Dual w/upload(17.3Mbps)”, RTT of a mVoIP in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used and a upload bandwidth is 12.4 Mpbs is illustratedas “Single w/upload(12.4 Mbps)”, and RTT of a mVoIP in a case that asingle-transmission queue architecture is used and a upload bandwidth is18.0 Mpbs is illustrated as “Single w/upload(18.0 Mbps)”.

In FIG. 7, a vertical axis indicates a cumulative distribution function,and a horizontal axis indicates RTT. As illustrated in FIG. 7, it may beunderstood that delay performance of a mVoIP in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture which is based on a QOR accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure is used is better than delayperformance of a mVoIP in a case that a single-transmission queuearchitecture is used. In FIG. 7, it may be understood that the narrowera uplink bandwidth is, the greater difference is. Here, the differenceis a difference between delay performance of an mVoIP in a case that amulti-transmission queue architecture which is based on a QOR accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure is used and delay performanceof an mVoIP in a case that a single-transmission queue architecture isused.

Delay performance of a mVoIP in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure has been described with referenceto FIG. 7, and another example of an inner structure of a communicationnode in a communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates another example of an inner structureof a communication node in a communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8, acommunication node 800 includes a transmitter 811, a controller 813, areceiver 815, and a storage unit 817.

The controller 813 controls the overall operation of the communicationnode 800. More particularly, the controller 813 controls thecommunication node 800 to perform an operation related to a schedulingoperation, such as a scheduling operation based on a QOR according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The operation related to thescheduling operation based on the QOR according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure is performed in the manner described with referenceto FIGS. 1 to 7, and a description thereof will be omitted herein.

The transmitter 811 transmits various signals and various messages, andthe like to other communication nodes, and the like included in thecommunication system under a control of the controller 813. The varioussignals, the various messages, and the like transmitted in thetransmitter 811 have been described in FIGS. 1 to 7 and a descriptionthereof will be omitted herein.

The receiver 815 receives various signals, various messages, and thelike from other communication nodes included in the communication systemunder a control of the controller 813. The various signals, the variousmessages, and the like received in the receiver 815 have been describedin FIGS. 1 to 7 and a description thereof will be omitted herein.

The storage unit 817 stores a program related to the operation relatedto the scheduling operation based on the QOR according to an embodimentof the present disclosure which the communication node 800 performsunder a control of the controller 813, various data, and the like. Thestorage unit 817 stores the various signals and the various messageswhich the receiver 815 receives from the other communication nodes, andthe like.

While the transmitter 811, the controller 813, the receiver 815, and thestorage unit 817 are described in the communication node 800 as separateunits, it is to be understood that this is merely for convenience ofdescription. In other words, two or more of the transmitter 811, thecontroller 813, the receiver 815, and the storage unit 817 may beincorporated into a single unit. The communication node 800 may beimplemented with one processor. As is apparent from the foregoingdescription, an embodiment of the present disclosure enables to schedulea packet in a communication system. An embodiment of the presentdisclosure enables to schedule a packet by considering a delaycharacteristic in a communication system. An embodiment of the presentdisclosure enables to schedule a packet by considering a delaycharacteristic thereby enabling to decrease computing overhead in acommunication system. An embodiment of the present disclosure enables toschedule a packet by considering a delay characteristic thereby enablingto decrease delay in a communication system. An embodiment of thepresent disclosure enables to schedule a packet by considering a delaycharacteristic thereby enabling to enhance QoE in a communicationsystem.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure may also be embodied ascomputer readable code on a non-transitory computer readable recordingmedium. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can be thereafter read by acomputer system. Examples of the non-transitory computer readablerecording medium include read only memory (ROM), random access memory(RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storagedevices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through theInternet). The non-transitory computer readable recording medium canalso be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.In addition, functional programs, code, and code segments foraccomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed byprogrammers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

It can be appreciated that a method and apparatus according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware,software and/or a combination thereof. The software may be stored in anon-volatile storage, for example, an erasable or re-writable ROM, amemory, for example, a RAM, a memory chip, a memory device, or a memoryintegrated circuit (IC), or an optically or magnetically recordablenon-transitory machine-readable (such as computer-readable), storagemedium (such as a compact disk (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), amagnetic disk, a magnetic tape, and/or the like). A method and apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implementedby a computer or a mobile terminal that includes a controller and amemory, and the memory may be an example of a non-transitorymachine-readable (such as computer-readable), storage medium suitable tostore a program or programs including instructions for implementingvarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure may include a program including code forimplementing the apparatus and method as defined by the appended claims,and a non-transitory machine-readable (such as computer-readable),storage medium storing the program. The program may be electronicallytransferred via any media, such as communication signals, which aretransmitted through wired and/or wireless connections, and the presentdisclosure may include their equivalents.

An apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure mayreceive the program from a program providing device which is connectedto the apparatus via a wire or a wireless and store the program. Theprogram providing device may include a memory for storing instructionswhich instruct to perform a content protect method which has beenalready installed, information necessary for the content protect method,and the like, a communication unit for performing a wired or a wirelesscommunication with a graphic processing device, and a controller fortransmitting a related program to a transmitting/receiving device basedon a request of the graphic processing device or automaticallytransmitting the related program to the transmitting/receiving device.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for scheduling a packet in acommunication node in a communication system, the method comprising:detecting a plurality of queue occupancy ratios (QORs) corresponding toa plurality of transmission buffers that are mapped respectively to aplurality of applications on which at least one packet occurs; comparingeach of the plurality of detected QORs with a corresponding one of aplurality of preset threshold QORs; inserting, based on the comparison,at least one first packet into a first transmission queue from at leastone first transmission buffer, wherein each QOR of the at least onefirst transmission buffer is less than or equal to a correspondingpreset threshold; inserting, based on the comparison, at least onesecond packet into a second transmission queue from at least one secondtransmission buffer, wherein each QOR of the at least one secondtransmission buffer greater than the corresponding preset threshold; andtransmitting the at least one first packet inserted into the firsttransmission queue, in advance of the at least one second packetinserted into the second transmission queue, wherein the QOR denotes aratio of a size of at least one packet to a size of a transmissionbuffer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the plurality ofQORs comprises: detecting the plurality of QORs at a timing point atwhich the at least one packet occurs, or detecting the plurality of QORsat a preset scheduling timing point.
 3. A communication node in acommunication system, the communication node comprising: a controllerconfigured to perform: an operation of detecting a plurality of queueoccupancy ratios (QORs) corresponding to a plurality of transmissionbuffers that are mapped respectively to a plurality of applications onwhich at least one packet occurs, an operation of comparing each of theplurality of detected QORs with corresponding one of a plurality ofpreset threshold QORs, and an operation of inserting, based on thecomparison, at least one first packet into a first transmission queuefrom at least one first transmission buffer, wherein each QOR of the atleast one first transmission buffer is less than or equal to acorresponding preset threshold, an operation of inserting, based on thecomparison, at least one second packet into a second transmission queuefrom at least one second transmission buffer, wherein each QOR of the atleast one second transmission buffer greater than the correspondingpreset threshold; and a transmitter configured to transmit the at leastone first packet inserted into the first transmission queue, in advanceof the at least one second packet inserted into the second transmissionqueue, wherein the QOR denotes a ratio of a size of at least one packetto a size of a transmission buffer.
 4. The communication node of claim3, wherein the operation of detecting the QORs comprises: an operationof detecting the plurality of QORs at a timing point at which the atleast one packet occurs, or an operation of detecting the plurality ofQORs at a preset scheduling timing point.